


Display

by irish_trash_cash



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 17:24:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6433495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irish_trash_cash/pseuds/irish_trash_cash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bored during a meeting, the reader finds something out about Matthew that many have yet to realize.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Breathing out a long, tired sigh, you blinked hard and looked around the room as you struggled to drift back into coherency. This was the third time you had nearly fallen asleep during the conference and it was really beginning to piss you off because everyone had been arguing about the same topic all morning. It was bad enough that you didn’t get much sleep last night. Being a nation is tough work, and you were ready to blow a God damn gasket any second if people didn’t start getting shit done.

Trying to get a better grasp on the topic of discussion, you focused your attention on America, who was ranting on about how great the American system of measurements was, while shoving an entire hot dog in his mouth. A week out of every month is not nearly enough time to begin solving the world’s problems, and you were preparing to speak up and suggest moving on to a more productive topic when you heard a quiet voice to your right mumble “Christ, Alfred how do you manage to eat a whole hot dog in one bite? You must get lots of practice shoving things down your throat to be that good.”

Eyes widening in absolute horror, you slowly, inconspicuously turned your head to glance at the repressed Canadian seated next to you. Sensing that someone had heard him, Canada looked over and locked eyes with you for a split second before laughing sheepishly and looking down at the notepad in front of him. You sat there in shock for a moment before raising an eyebrow and facing forward again. Did Canada seriously just say that? you thought to yourself, still surprised at what had just happened. Sweet, shy little Canada just blatantly insulted Alfred under his breath… you thought. Sneaking a small glance at him again, you saw that he was sitting with his back straight as usual, and acting like nothing had just happened.

The more you thought about it, it didn’t necessarily surprise you that no one seemed to have noticed this side of him before. He almost didn’t exist to some people, as dismal as that fact was, which explains why he could easily get away with openly insulting someone in the same room as him. That’s when the idea popped into your head. A devilish grin spread across your face as you ever so slightly leaned over to him and whispered “I’m sure England would know all about Alfred’s practice techniques.”

Upon hearing this, Canada choked, nearly spitting out the water he was taking a swig of, and let out a few shallow gasps in attempt to regain his breath. He turned to glare at you with an equally as shocked expression as you had before, but by then you had already turned away, acting like you hadn’t said a word. Clearing his throat, Canada faced forward again, with a look of horror seemingly plastered onto his face. Deciding it was probably best to ignore the situation he began writing random French phrases in his notebook to occupy himself, hoping you weren’t able to comprehend French if you looked over at him again. But you weren’t ready to let this all go. It was the most interesting thing that had happened to you all week, and probably the most that will ever happen during a world conference.

“Hey Canada, do you think Sweden puts sugar in his tea to… Sweden it?” You whispered, leaning towards him again and gesturing toward Berwald across the room. This time Canada snorted and let out a small laugh before smiling at you, his ears tipped with a slight red hue.

“I wonder what we’d have to bribe Liechtenstein with to get her to clip bows in England’s eyebrows.” Canada mumbled, and you clapped a hand over your mouth to quiet your laughing. Looking over at England, it was pretty clear that one could easily put bows on his eyebrows, as they were so thick. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Canada smiling and scribbling in his notebook.

“I’d be willing to bet that if we gave him enough liquor, we could convince Wales to think he’s an actual whale…” You said, laughing to yourself at the thought of how tacky it was.

“Have you ever seen France when he’s drunk?” Canada asked, raising his eyebrows. You shook your head slightly, as to not raise any suspicion of your conversation, and a wide grin spread across Canada’s face. “I’m sure you’d love it.” He replied as he continued scribbling in his notebook, “He can barely stand, but somehow manages to strip and starts shouting about civilians eating cake.”

You grinned hugely at this and turned your head toward France, imagining such a scene play out before you. You were forced to look away however, when Canada discreetly slid you a piece of paper from his notebook. Moving it closer toward yourself, you glanced down at the paper and upon reading it, your cheeks flared with a tinge of red.

“Are you a beaver? Because dam.” you read to yourself, eyes widening as they scanned over the page hastily. out of the corner of your eye you saw Canada turn away from you, clearly embarrassed.Trying to restrain yourself from laughing, you looked over at him and whispered, “Did you just use a pick up line…? On me?” Canada’s face was nearly glowing red by now and he squeaked slightly, groaning as he put his head on the table and covered it with his arms. Smiling shyly you looked around, to see if anyone had noticed you, and relished the fact that no one did. Then looking down at the paper, you read it again, admiring the beauty of the Canadian’s awful one-liner.


	2. Influence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow-up to "Display," where the reader takes an opportunity to embarrassingly act on their feelings for Matthew.

Letting out a yawn, you trudged through the hallway towards the conference room. Germany had really cracked down after the last few World Conferences, so now everyone had to show up earlier and stay later until each issue had been settled. The meeting this month was at America’s, so it was obvious that little to nothing would get done today.

Alfred was a terrible planner when it came to hosting conferences. His house was rarely clean, there was never enough room for anyone, and he always tended to “forget” about food and beverages for everyone but himself, which meant you’d have to stick through the day with only six hours of sleep and no coffee.

Walking through the door to the conference room, you took note that you were one of the last people to show up. It was pretty amusing how having to wake up a few hours early took a tole on the nations. Almost everyone had messed up hair, wrinkled suits, and dark circles under their eyes from their lack of sleep and caffeine deficiency, and you laughed lightly at how zombie-like everyone looked, including yourself.

Striding over to one of the only empty seats left in the room, you threw yourself down in the rather firm armchair, and sighed in content as you slouched into a more comfortable position. However, you looked up when someone cleared their throat behind you, and your eyes immediately widened in embarrassment.

“Canada!” you gasped quietly, trying not to gain any unwanted attention. You jumped up before realizing you were in the middle of a meeting, and stood there awkwardly while everyone stared at you.

“You feeling okay, broski?” America questioned from his seat to your left, raising an eyebrow at you.

“I- um. I’m fine.” You said with a nervous laugh.

“Could you please sit down then. We have a meeting to start.” Germany said, eyes glued to the notebook in front of him.

“Yeah…” You trailed off, laughing again nervously. Looking around, you saw there were no more open seats left in the room. Far to few actually, since a handful of the nations were standing against one of the walls. You decided to just stand like the others, but then you realized- No one noticed Canada was here. It would be weird to go stand if everyone thought this seat was still open. You were trembling with embarrassment as you slowly sat back down on Canada’s lap, back stiff, and grasping onto your notebook and pen tightly.

You and Canada hadn’t had any interaction since the meeting a few months ago when he used that god damn pick up line on you. You had to admit, you had developed a bit of a soft spot for him, and have recently caught yourself noticing him a lot more than usual, but this… You found it impossible to put into words how you felt about this situation.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You look… stiff.” America whispered over to you. You didn’t respond at all, you just let out an awkward, quiet laugh, and leaned back against Canada’s chest. 'Damn, Canada isn’t as soft as I thought he was.' You thought to yourself as your back rested against his chest. Your face reddened a bit at what an embarrassing position the two of you were in, and you looked down, noticing that Canada was fumbling with a loose button on the arm of the canvas chair.

“I’m sorry Matthew.” You whispered, staring forward with a slightly concerned look on your face.

“No I’m sorry.” Canada replied, letting out a sigh, grateful that you couldn’t see the redness of his face. He relaxed a bit and tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood. “Alfred is awful at planning, so don’t blame yourself.” He whispered.

“Tell me about it. We don’t even have enough seats for everyone and there’s no damn tables either.” You replied softly, struggling to take down notes with your notebook on your lap.

“What’s with the chair arrangement too, like why are we all in a circle? Did he expect us to conduct a seance? Canada said sarcastically, laughing nervously and hoping he was helping you to relax. No one knew how long you were going to be in this meeting for, so he wanted you to be as comfortable as possible.

“Have you always been this sarcastic?” You asked, looking back at him slightly and smiling. Canada smiled back awkwardly before looking away to avoid your gaze.

Taking note of the much more relaxed atmosphere, you leaned back into Canada’s chest, smirking slightly as he squeaked and tensed up as you practically snuggled against him. “Just relax. We’re gonna be here for a while, so I might as well get comfortable.” You whispered. Sighing, Canada loosened up and rested his head on top of yours, praying he wasn’t overstepping his boundaries.

“Can, um… Can I tell you something?” Canada whispered, clenching his fists in apprehension.

“Um, sure.” You replied curiously, furrowing your eyebrows and wondering why he sounded so nervous. You sat there for quite some time, waiting for a reply, eventually rolling your eyes when he neglected to say anything else. Feeling Canada shift around a bit behind you, you turned your head to look back at him and ask what it was that he wanted to say, but you froze as he gently pressed his lips to your temple.

“… What.” You stated, eyes wide in shock. Realizing how horrible you sounded, you blinked hard and turned to face forward again. “I’m sorry. That was rude.” You whispered almost inaudibly.

“I- It’s fine.” Canada replied, clearing his throat. You could feel him trembling behind you and felt bad for how you responded to his actions.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?” You asked, hoping to stray away from how embarrassed you both were after what just happened.

“Well, um…” He trailed off. You both sat there, sharing the same feeling of apprehension, waiting for who would say something first. Matthew took the silent opportunity and reached around you to take one of your hands in his. Leaning in next to your head, lips brushing over your ear, he took a deep breath and whispered “I really like you.“ You just sat there for a moment, mulling over his words, not sure of what to say. Canada squeezed your hand slightly as he anticipated your response. "Canada- I…” You began to say, but you stopped yourself when you heard him mumble “You make my heart beat faster than a double double.”


End file.
